Vacuum evaporating apparatus



(No Model.)

H. S. PIRMAN. VAGUUM EVAPORATING APPARATUS. No. 544,614. Patented Aug. 13, 1895' w Mm hn ww W I'PI v WNI QQ .3 m. wlw ilk w v w W $1 mu v w W 1 0 a Z UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

HENRY S. FIRMAN, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

VACUUM EVAPORATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,614, dated August 13, 1895.

Application filedDecember 28, 1894. Serial No- ,1 i N m l-l To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY S. FIRMAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New Apparatus, of which the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements on the evaporating apparatus covered by my Patent No. 438,266, granted October 14, 1890, in which there is a steam-tight jacketed cylinder or receiver for the reception and treatment of various kinds of material-such, for instance, as sugar-cane, sorghum, and saps for obtaining sugar and sirups, organic refuse, garbage, excrementitious matters, blood, meat, lime, white lead, paints, paper-pulp, wood pulp, salt brine, soda-ash liquor, fish scrap, tank water, and all mechanical and other liquids and residuums from abattoirs and packing-housesand means for evaporating the water from the same and granulating and pulverizing the material and mixing it with other materials when desired. This apparatus can also be utilized for the treatment of bones, phosphate rock, and other sub stances for the production of phosphoric acid or to render the same soluble.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, I will first describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, and afterward particularly point out the novelty in the annexed claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is an enlarged side elevation of the steam-tight jacketed receiver or cylinder, broken away in parts to show the improvements claimed. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing the construction of the hopper. Fig. 3 is detail sectional view, on a larger scale, on the line 3 3 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the wedge employed to secure the knife to the rods. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the casting and perforated pipe surrounding the dischargeopenings.

The heating and vacuum chamber consists of a large cylinder 1, having a surrounding jacket 2, forming a steam-space for heating the material under treatment in the vacuumchamber. v

. 3 is a large casting fitted into a suitable oval opening formed in the top of the cylinder 1, and jacket 2 securely riveted thereto.

4 is an exhaust-dome extending up through said casting, and 5 is the opening for the introduction of the material to be treated.

6 is a removable cover to said opening, and 7 is a securing-yoke, pivoted at one end 8 to the casting 3 and formed with a jaw 9 at its opposite end, with which engages the pivoted locking-bolt 10, whereby the cover can be securely held in place.

11 is a tubular shaft extending longitudinally through the cylinder 1 and journaled in the ends of the cylinder and provided with suitable stuffing-boxes to form tight joints. The tubular shaft 11 is formed with a series of transverse openings 12, through which pass the arms 13, which support the stirring-knives 14. The arms 13 are screw-threaded at 13 (the portions which pass through the tubular shaft 11) and are held securely and adjustably on said shaft by means of the nuts 13 and clamping-nuts 13. Each stirring-knife 14 is supported by two of the arms 13, thereby bracing said arms and strengthening the structure. vided enables each knife to be brought into parallelism with its particular part of the surface of the cylinder 2, thus avoiding uneven action and liability to breakage, which results from a structure in which the knives are rigidly supported at the same distance from the shaft throughout. The stirring-knives are secured to the ends of the arms 13 by forming dovetailed cross-grooves15 in said arms and fitting the shouldered portion 16 of the stirring-blade within said cross-groove and securing it therein by means of a wedge 17. The cross-cut grooves may be formed more acute on one edge than the other, if preferred, to render the joint more secure,the wedges resting preferably against the less acute edges. The wedges may be secured in place by any suitable means, for example by a pin y (see Fig. 4) driven solidly into the hole w (see Fig. 5) drilled in the wedge 17 at The capacityfor adjustment prothe small end. which projects beyond the arm 13.

I employ one or more discharge-openings in the bottom of the cylinder 1 for the outlet of the material after it has been treated. These discharge-openings are formed by riveting solid castings in suitable openings formed through the jacket and cylinder. The inner wall of each casting is formed with a groove or recess 21, which is connected with a suitable steam-pipe 22, and which may be provided with a circular perforated steampipe 23, extending around the outlet-opening. Either steam or water maybe supplied to the cylinder through this means. The water may be drained off by closing the cock in the pipe leading to the boiler and opening the other. These discharge-openings are normally closed by the removable heads 25, which areheld in place by the adjustable screws 26 swiveled thereto, which screws are threaded through yokes 28, which are pivotally supported at one end upon the screws 29 and formed with an open bifurcation or jaw 30 on their opposite ends, which engage the headed screws 31. By this means the removable heads 25 can be held securely in place, and when desired be withdrawn and swung out of the Way while the material is removed. It is preferable to have them hung so as to swing right and left to give freer access to the discharge-openings.

and 36 are pipes for the withdrawal of water from the material being treated.

37, 38, 39, and 40 are pipes arranged at different elevations in the heads of the cylinder for withdrawing the grease which floats to the top.

Any suitable means for exhausting the air from the cylinder after the material has been inserted may be provided. It is preferable to provide all of the pipes above referred to with suitable stop-cocks. This improved evaporating-cylinder is preferably employed in can: uection with the other parts of the apparatus disclosed in my patent above referred to. Any suitable means may be provided for rotating the hollow shaft with its supportingknives. For a greater degree of heat the hollow shaft can be supplied with steam or hot air.

40 is the hopper through which the machine is charged. It may be of any suitable size or form and may be placed at any suitable position to best serve its purpose, but I preferably make it in the form shown in the drawings, in which it is formed with a pipe or tube 41 extending up through one side and adapted to be connected with a suitable chute for conveying the organic refuse or garbage. This pipe or tube 41 may be fixed or removable.

The method by which material is treatedin my improved apparatus may be briefly described as followsi After the material, such as'organic refuse, garbage, &c., has been admitted to the cylinder, steam is admitted through the pipes surrounding the dischargeopenings and into the jacket. This is carried on for one or more hours under pressure until the materialis thoroughly cooked. The steam is then shut off and the material allowed to settle for a few minutes when the grease will float to the top. If a sufficient quantity of water has not been supplied to float the grease, hot or cold water can be.

forced into the receiver through one of the pipes above referred to. The grease is then gradually withdrawn in one of the pipes 37, 38, 39, or 40, or all of them simultaneously. The withdrawal of the grease from the receiver is sometimes greatly facilitated by a gentle flow of steam into the receiver. As soon as the grease has been withdrawn the remaining water is drained off through the water-pipes. IVhen the material is sufficiently drained, the rotary shaft is set in motion, and immediately after the chemicals are added to the material. The process is then continued to completion (the steam being admittedto the jacket to keep the material heated) and when the material is sufficiently dried the discharge-openin gs are thrown open and the machine will discharge itself automaticall y. In the treatment of other material that does not require cooking, the material is at once put under vacuum and dried, no steam in such cases being admitted to the inside of the cylinder from the boiler. The chemicals used in the treatment of the material will depend upon the character of the material under treatment and the purpose for which it is intended. In some cases certain descriptions of phosphates, in others phosphoric acid may be employed to a limited extent. In the first stage of the treatment of the material containing greasethat is to say the renderingdilute sulphuric acid may be employed, though in many cases other chemicals will prove more advantageous.

While the removal of the melted liquid.

grease is preferably accomplished by means of steam and water pipes named above, I do not wish to confine myself to the exact arrangement of the said pipes, as they may be placed in other positions in the apparatus to better advantage under certain conditions.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a vacuum apparatus, the combination of the agitator shaft, the stirring knives, paired supporting rods 13 for each of said knives, suitably screw-threaded, and passing through said shaft, the screw-threaded portions projecting on both sides of said shaft and adjustably locked thereon by nuts 13 and clamping nuts 13 on each side of said means for treating and agitating the material in the receiver, and means for supplying steam or water around the discharge opening to facilitate the discharge of material from the receiver, substantially as set forth.

3. In a vacuum apparatus, the combination of a receiver provided with inlet supply and outlet discharge openings and adapted to receive material to be treated, mechanical means for treating and agitating the material in the receiver, a perforated pipe surrounding theIoutlet discharge opening for supplying steam or water and for draining, and means for supplying steam or water therethrough, substantially as set forth. 

